There is a new King in the race for the top in the Great Tank standings. Sacramento has won one game in their last eleven, and have vaulted themselves into the conversation for the #1 pick.

The Kings have had one of the more perplexing paths to the top. They have beaten the likes of the Warriors, Cavaliers, Thunder, 76ers (twice), and Pelicans this season. Meanwhile, they have lost nearly every game that they have played against fellow tankers, fueling their ascent up the standings.

There is no reason to believe that Sacramento will let up on the losing anytime soon. They just began a six-game road trip, and play only seven games at Golden 1 Center between now and the first day of March. Their opponents in February include the Warriors, Rockets, Timberwolves twice, Blazers twice, and Thunder. Their front office has made personnel decisions that will result in more losses, and presumably, have some decisions left to make.

Coach Dave Joerger has already openly announced that the veterans will be taking nights off in a rotation. For the rest of the season, two players each night will receive a scheduled “DNP”. The rotation of rest will be shared between Kosta Koufos, Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, George Hill and Garrett Temple. The decision, according to Joerger, was made in order to get the young players more reps. The Kings have ten players still on their rookie contracts, and there simply are not enough minutes in a game to allow them all to develop. Sacramento’s rotation will get younger and should result in an even lower winning percentage the rest of the way.

The next decision for the front office will depend on the trade market for their veterans. George Hill is the candidate most likely to be traded and is probably the most valuable. The Cavaliers have been rumored to be interested, and there are plenty of trade rumors surrounding the suddenly-well-traveled Hill. Contending teams will undoubtedly be interested in other Kings veterans, such as Koufos and Randolph.

The youth movement in Sacramento continues to get more youthful, and the Kings will do their best in the second half of the season to add another under-20 player in the 2018 Draft.

Current Standings (January 22nd)

Kings	13-32	GB:0
Hawks	13-32	GB:0
Magic	14-32	GB:0.5
Mavs	15-31	GB:1.5
Grizzlies	16-29	GB:3
Suns	17-29	GB:3.5
Lakers	17-29	GB:3.5
Nets	18-29	GB:4
Bulls	18-28	GB:4.5
Hornets	18-26	GB:5.5

Best Tankers

The Orlando Magic continues its misery, racking up 28 losses in their last 34 games. Since the first installment of “Tanks A Lot”, the Magic has gone from 10th to 1st in the tank standings, but have recently fallen back to 3rd place. In a Sunday matinee matchup in Boston, the Magic withstood a 40 point effort by Kyrie Irving and beat the Celtics. The win put Orlando a half-game behind Sacramento and Atlanta, who are tied for the top spot.

Aside from the Magic and Kings, each team in the bottom 11 won four or more games in their last ten. Two teams have fallen below the playoff/lottery threshold, however, as New York and Detroit are both now just a few losses from officially throwing their hats in the race.

Worst Tankers

Almost everyone. Over the last ten games:
Lakers/Hornets: 6-4
Bulls/Grizzlies: 5-5
Hawks/Mavericks/Suns/Nets/Jazz: 4-6

No one has done themselves any favors over the last two weeks.

Relevant Games (Last Week)

Grizzlies 106, Kings 88

The Grizzlies hosted the Kings and Zach Randolph, who played his first game in Memphis since his departure last summer. In a battle of bottom five teams, the Grizz won by 18 and vaulted Sacramento into its first appearance atop the tank standings. Ex-King Ben McLemore scored a season-high 21 points against his old team.

Bulls 113, Hawks 97
After winning three of four the week before, the Hawks played dead against the kind-of-surging Bulls and lost by 16. The loss allowed Atlanta to remain tied with Sacramento for the right to be the worst team in the league.

Relevant Games (This Week)

Kings @ Hornets - 1/22
Kings @ Magic - 1/23

Two huge games on the schedule for Sacramento this week. They are in the middle of a long road trip, playing a back-to-back against two bottom 10 teams. Expect extreme levels of tanking. 

Hawks @ Hornets - 1/26

There have been reports of the Hornets shopping Kemba Walker, which would almost certainly force the Charlotte to wave the white flag on the season. Keep an eye on the Hawks this week as well, as they are just as much alive for the top pick as Sacramento is.

Other Observations

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Lakers, on a nine-game losing streak, played the Hawks in a battle for the league’s worst record. LA won that game and subsequently played themselves out of the top 5. They have won six of their last eight and play against the Bulls, Magic, and Nets on their upcoming road trip.

Speaking of the Lakers and Nets, keep in mind that neither team owns its draft pick. They’ll both probably finish in the 5-10 range, and hand over their picks to either Boston or Philadelphia (Lakers) and Cleveland (Nets).